Biography

Dr. Ben Blau graduated with honors and received a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Mississippi in June 2008 after receiving both his Bachelors Degree (Finance, 2002) and Masters Degree (Economics, 2005) here at Utah State University.
Ben is passionate about both teaching and research.
Before joining the faculty at USU, he taught at the Marriott School at Brigham Young University and was recognized for “Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching” in 2009.
Ben’s research interests include empirical asset pricing, market microstructure, and the efficiency of the financial system.
He has published more than three dozen articles in academic journals such as the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Journal of Banking and Finance, and Financial Management.
His article titled, “Signaling, Free Cash Flow, and Nonmonotonic Dividends” won the Outstanding Paper award in the Financial Review in 2010.
Another one of Ben’s article titled, “Trade Size and Price Clustering: The Case of Short Sales and the Suspension of Price Tests” won the 2012 Outstanding Article award at the Journal of Financial Research.
His research has also been highlighted by several media outlets, such as the Wall Street Journal, SmartMoney Magazine, and Politico. In 2012, he was recognized as the Huntsman School Teacher of the Year and in 2013, he was again recognized as the Huntsman School Researcher of the Year.